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Humboldt Gletscher is a 100‐km wide, slow‐moving glacier in north Greenland which holds a 19‐cm global sea level equivalent. Humboldt has been the fourth largest contributor to sea level rise since 1972 but the cause of its mass loss has not been elucidated. Multi‐beam echo sounding data collected in 2019 indicate a seabed 200 m deeper than previously known. Conductivity temperature depth data reveal the presence of warm water of Atlantic origin at 0°C at the glacier front and a warming of the ocean waters by 0.9 ± 0.1°C since 1962. Using an ocean model, we reconstruct grounded ice undercutting by the ocean, combine it with calculated retreat caused by ice thinning to floatation, and are able to fully explain the observed retreat. Two thirds of the retreat are caused by undercutting of grounded ice, which is a physical process not included in most ice sheet models., Key Points The 100‐km wide Humboldt Gletscher holds a 19‐cm sea level rise equivalent, lost 161 billion tons of mass, and retreated 13 km since 1972Warm waters at 0°C flood a 350–400 m deep trough on its northern flank that remains below sea level more than 100 km inlandWe explain the glacier retreat as 70% from ocean‐induced undercutting and 30% from thinning‐induced retreat

Fast-flowing outlet glaciers currently drain the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), delivering ice, meltwater and debris to the fjords around Greenland. Although such glaciers strongly affect the ice sheet's mass balance, their glacimarine processes and associated products are still poorly understood. This study provides a detailed analysis of lithological and geophysical data from Disko Bay and the Vaigat Strait in central West Greenland. Disko Bay is strongly influenced by Jakobshavn Isbrae, Greenland's fastest-flowing glacier, which currently drains ∼7% of the ice sheet. Streamlined glacial landforms record the former flow of an expanded Jakobshavn Isbrae and adjacent GIS outlets through Disko Bay and the Vaigat Strait towards the continental shelf. Thirteen vibrocores contain a complex set of lithofacies including diamict, stratified mud, interbedded mud and sand, and bioturbated mud deposited by (1) suspension settling from meltwater plumes and the water column, (2) sediment gravity flows, and (3) iceberg rafting and ploughing. The importance of meltwater-related processes to glacimarine sedimentation in West Greenland fjords and bays is emphasised by the abundance of mud preserved in the cores. Radiocarbon dates constrain the position of the ice margin during deglaciation, and suggest that Jakobshavn Isbrae had retreated into central Disko Bay before 10.6 cal ka BP and to beyond Isfjeldsbanken by 7.6–7.1 cal ka BP. Sediment accumulation rates were up to 1.7 cm a−1 for ice-proximal glacimarine mud, and ∼0.007–0.05 cm a−1 for overlying distal sediments. In addition to elucidating the deglacial retreat history of Jakobshavn Isbrae, our findings show that the glacimarine sedimentary processes in West Greenland are similar to those in East Greenland, and that variability in such processes is more a function of time and glacier proximity than of geographic location and associated climatic regime.

Bathymetry (seafloor depth), is a critical parameter providing the geospatial context for a multitude of marine scientific studies. Since 1997, the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) has been the authoritative source of bathymetry for the Arctic Ocean. IBCAO has merged its efforts with the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO-Seabed 2030 Project, with the goal of mapping all of the oceans by 2030. Here we present the latest version (IBCAO Ver. 4.0), with more than twice the resolution (200 × 200 m versus 500 × 500 m) and with individual depth soundings constraining three times more area of the Arctic Ocean (∼19.8% versus 6.7%), than the previous IBCAO Ver. 3.0 released in 2012. Modern multibeam bathymetry comprises ∼14.3% in Ver. 4.0 compared to ∼5.4% in Ver. 3.0. Thus, the new IBCAO Ver. 4.0 has substantially more seafloor morphological information that offers new insights into a range of submarine features and processes; for example, the improved portrayal of Greenland fjords better serves predictive modelling of the fate of the Greenland Ice Sheet., Measurement(s)depthTechnology Type(s)digital curationFactor Type(s)geographic locationSample Characteristic - Environmentocean floorSample Characteristic - LocationArctic Ocean Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12369314

Southeast Greenland has been a major participant in the ice sheet mass loss over the last several decades. Interpreting the evolution of glacier fronts requires information about their depth below sea level and ocean thermal forcing, which are incompletely known in the region. Here, we combine airborne gravity and multibeam echo sounding data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission with ocean probe and fishing boat depth data to reconstruct the bathymetry extending from the glacier margins to the edges of the continental shelf. We perform a three‐dimensional inversion of the gravity data over water and merge the solution with a mass conservation reconstruction of bed topography over land. In contrast with other parts of Greenland, we find few deep troughs connecting the glaciers to the sources of warm Atlantic Water, amidst a relatively uniform, shallow (350 m) continental shelf. The deep channels include the Kangerlugssuaq, Sermilik, Gyldenløve, and Tingmiarmiut Troughs.

©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Marine-terminating glaciers play a critical role in controlling Greenland's ice sheet mass balance. Their frontal margins interact vigorously with the ocean, but our understanding of this interaction is limited, in part, by a lack of bathymetry data. Here we present a multibeam echo sounding survey of 14 glacial fjords in the Uummannaq and Vaigat fjords, west Greenland, which extends from the continental shelf to the glacier fronts. The data reveal valleys with shallow sills, overdeepenings (>1300 m) from glacial erosion, and seafloor depths 100-1000 m deeper than in existing charts. Where fjords are deep enough, we detect the pervasive presence of warm, salty Atlantic Water (AW) (>2.5°C) with high melt potential, but we also find numerous glaciers grounded on shallow (

We present bathymetry and hydrological observations collected in the summer of 2014 from two fjord systems in Southeast Greenland, using SS Activ with a multibeam system temporally installed over the side of the ship. Our results provide a detailed bathymetric map of the fjord complex around Skjoldungen Island and the outer part of Timmiarmiut Fjord and show far greater depths compared to the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean. The hydrography collected show different properties in the fjords with the bottom water masses below 240 m in Timmiarmiut Fjord being 1–2 °C warmer than in the two fjords around Skjoldungen Island, but data also illustrate the influence of sills on the exchange of deeper water masses within fjords. Moreover, evidence of subglacial discharge in Timmiarmiut Fjord, consistent with satellite observations of ice mélange set into motion, adds to our increasing understanding of the distribution of subglacial meltwater. Data is available through the PANGAEA website https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.860627.

Continuous surface cores of cold-seep carbonates were recovered offshore Pacific Nicaragua and Costa Rica from 800 to 1,500-m water depths (Meteor 66/3) in order to decipher their evolution and methane enriched fluid emanation in contrasting geological settings. Cores from the mounds Iguana, Perezoso, Baula V and from the Jaco Scarp escarpment were used for a multi-method approach. For both settings aragonite was revealed as dominant authigenic carbonate phase in vein fillings and matrix cementation, followed by Mg-calcite as second most abundant. This common precipitation process of CaCO3 polymorphs could be ascribed as indirectly driven by chemical changes of the advecting pore water due to anaerobic oxidation of methane. A more direct influence of seep-related microbial activity on the authigenic mineral assemblage in both settings is probably reflected by the observed minor amounts of dolomite and a dolomite-like CaMg carbonate (MgCO3 ~ 42 %). δ13C data of Jaco Scarp samples are significantly lower (−43 to −56 ‰ PDB) than for mound samples (−22 to −36 ‰ PDB), indicating differences in fluid composition and origin. Noteworthy, δ18O values of Scarp samples correlate most closely with the ocean signature at their time of formation. Documenting the archive potential, a high resolution case study of a mound core implies at least 40 changes in fluid supply within a time interval of approximately 14 ky. As most striking difference, the age data indicate a late-stage downward-progressing cementation front for all three mound cap structures (approx. 2–5 cm/ky), but a significantly faster upward carbonate buildup in the bulging sediments on top of the scarp environment (approx. 120 cm/ky). The latter data set leads to the hypothesis of chemoherm carbonate emplacement in accord with reported sedimentation rates until decompression of the advective fluid system, probably caused by the Jaco Scarp landslide and dating this to approximately 13,000 years ago.

In the Patagonian Andes erosion by temperate Pleistocene glaciers has produced a deeply incised fjord system in which glacial and non-glacial sedimentswere deposited since the Late Glacial glacier retreat. So far, fjord bathymetry and structures in the sediment infill were widely unexplored. Here we report the results of an investigation of morphology and sediment characteristics of a 250 km long fjord transect across the southernmost Andes (53°S), using multibeam and parametric echosounder data, and sediment cores. Subaquatic morphology reveals continuity of on-land tectonic lineaments mapped using field and remote sensing data. Our results indicate that glacial erosion and fjord orientation are strongly controlled by three major strike-slip fault zones. Furthermore, erosion is partly controlled by older and/or reactivated fracture zones as well as by differential resistance of the basement units to denudation. Basement morphology is regionally superimposed by Late Glacial and Holocene subaquatic moraines, which are associated to known glacier advances. The moraines preferentially occur on basement highs, which constrained the glacier flows. This suggests that the extent of glacier advances was also controlled by basement morphology. Subaquatic mass flows, fluid vent sites as well as distinct Late Glacial and Holocene sediment infills have furthermore modified fjord bathymetry. In the western fjord system close to the Strait of Magellan subaquatic terraces occur in 20 to 30 m water depth, providing an important tag for proglacial lake level during the Late Glacial.

Determining factors that limit coseismic rupture is important to evaluate the hazard of powerful subduction zone earthquakes such as the 2011 Tohoku-Oki event (Mw = 9.0). In 1960 (Mw = 9.5) and 2010 (Mw = 8.8), Chile was hit by such powerful earthquakes, the boundary of which was the site of a giant submarine slope failure with chaotic debris subducted to seismogenic zone depth. Here, a continuous decollement is absent, whereas away from the slope failure, a continuous decollement is seismically imaged. We infer that underthrusting of inhomogeneous slide deposits prevents the development of a decollement, and thus the formation of a thin continuous slip zone necessary for earthquake rupture propagation. Thus, coseismic rupture during the 1960 and 2010 earthquakes seems to be limited by underthrusted upper plate mass-wasting deposits. More generally, our results suggest that upper plate dynamics and resulting surface processes can play a key role for determining rupture size of subduction zone earthquakes

The Mw 8.8 megathrust earthquake that occurred on 27 February 2010 offshore the Maule region of central Chile triggered a destructive tsunami. Whether the earthquake rupture extended to the shallow part of the plate boundary near the trench remains controversial. The up-dip limit of rupture during large subduction zone earthquakes has important implications for tsunami generation and for the rheological behavior of the sedimentary prism in accretionary margins. However, in general, the slip models derived from tsunami wave modeling and seismological data are poorly constrained by direct seafloor geodetic observations. We difference swath bathymetric data acquired across the trench in 2008, 2011 and 2012 and find ~3–5 m of uplift of the seafloor landward of the deformation front, at the eastern edge of the trench. Modeling suggests this is compatible with slip extending seaward, at least, to within ~6 km of the deformation front. After the Mw 9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake, this result for the Maule earthquake represents only the second time that repeated bathymetric data has been used to detect the deformation following megathrust earthquakes, providing methodological guidelines for this relatively inexpensive way of obtaining seafloor geodetic data across subduction zone.

2-D seismic data from the top and the western slope of Mergui Ridge in water depths between 300 and 2200 m off the Thai west coast have been investigated in order to identify mass transport deposits (MTDs) and evaluate the tsunamigenic potential of submarine landslides in this outer shelf area. Based on our newly collected data, 17 mass transport deposits have been identified. Minimum volumes of individual MTDs range between 0.3 km3 and 14 km3. Landslide deposits have been identified in three different settings: (i) stacked MTDs within disturbed and faulted basin sediments at the transition of the East Andaman Basin to the Mergui Ridge; (ii) MTDs within a pile of drift sediments at the basin-ridge transition; and (iii) MTDs near the edge of/on top of Mergui Ridge in relatively shallow water depths (< 1000 m). Our data indicate that the Mergui Ridge slope area seems to have been generally unstable with repeated occurrence of slide events. We find that the most likely causes for slope instabilities may be the presence of unstable drift sediments, excess pore pressure, and active tectonics. Most MTDs are located in large water depths (> 1000 m) and/or comprise small volumes suggesting a small tsunami potential. Moreover, the recurrence rates of failure events seem to be low. Some MTDs with tsunami potential, however, have been identified on top of Mergui Ridge. Mass-wasting events that may occur in the future at similar locations may trigger tsunamis if they comprise sufficient volumes. Landslide tsunamis, emerging from slope failures in the working area and affecting western Thailand coastal areas therefore cannot be excluded, though the probability is very small compared to the probability of earthquake-triggered tsunamis, arising from the Sunda Trench.

A ship-based acoustic mapping campaign was conducted at the exit of Ilulissat Ice Fjord of West Greenland and in the sedimentary basin of Disko Bay west of the fjord mouth. Submarine landscape and sediment distribution patterns represented by five acoustic facies types represent glaciomarine sediment facies types that are related to variations in the past position and relative motion of the glacier front. Asymmetric ridges on the shelf that form a curved entity and a large sill at the fjord mouth represent moraines that depict at least two relatively stable positions of the ice front in the Disko Bay and at the fjord mouth. Comparable ice-end features are not observed seaward of the East Greenland Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, although both glaciers are comparable in their latitudinal position, present size and present role for the ice discharge from the Inland Ice sheet. Apparently, the retreat of the Greenland Inland Ice after the last maximum expansion was a more discontinuous process on the West Greenland Shelf than on the East Greenland Shelf. The Iceberg Bank, a prominent sill at the fjord exit appears to play an important role for the sedimentation after the retreat of the ice front from the shelf was completed. The retreat of the glacier behind the Iceberg Bank into the inner fjord is marked by a reorganization of sediment delivery in Disko Bay, as most of the till is now deposited within the fjord. Two linear clusters of pockmarks in the center of the sedimentary basin seem to be linked to methane release due to dissociation of gas hydrates, a process driven by fast crustal uplift of the Greenland Shelf. The orientation of these clusters appears to reflect a migration path that is defined by a buried structure which we could not resolve.

The central Chilean subduction zone between 35°S and 37°S was investigated in order to identify, document and possibly understand fluid flow and fluid venting within the forearc region. Several areas were mapped using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, high-resolution sidescan sonar, chirp subbottom profiling and reflection seismic data. On a subsequent cruise ground-truthing observations were made using a video sled. In general, this dataset shows surprisingly little evidence of fluid venting along the mid-slope region, in contrast to other subduction zones such as Central America and New Zealand. There were abundant indications of active and predominantly fossil fluid venting along the upper slope between 36.5°S and 36.8°S at the seaward margin of an intraslope basin. Here, backscatter anomalies suggest widespread authigenic carbonate deposits, likely the result of methane-rich fluid expulsion. There is unpublished evidence that these fluids are of biogenic origin and generated within the slope sediments, similar to other accretionary margins but in contrast to the erosional margin off Central America, where fluids have geochemical signals indicating an origin from the subducting plate.

Following the devastating 2004 tsunami that hit the southwestern coast of Thailand, the need for detailed bathymetric data of the Andaman Sea outer shelf became evident in order to better predict tsunami wave propagation and coastal impact. Bathymetric data and subbottom profiler records covering the outer shelf and upper slope of the Thai exclusive economic zone (EEZ) were collected onboard Thai RV Chakratong Tongyai in 2006 and 2007. The data cover an area of approximately 3000 km2 between 500 and 1600 m water depth. The soundings allowed generating a final bathymetric grid with 50 m grid cell spacing. The outer shelf is rather smooth and slightly inclined southward, while the upper slope is strongly dissected by gullies. Several previously unknown features are identified including mud-domes, pockmarks, three large plateaus surrounded by moats, gas-charged sediment on subbottom profiler records, and only few indications for small submarine landslides on the upper slope. The largest of these possibly translational submarine landslides involved 2.2×107 m3 of sediment. This slide would have generated a tsunami wave of less than 0.12 m wave height. Considering the entire data, there is no evidence that landslides have been the source of tsunami waves in recent geological time. Highlights

Based on multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution deep-towed sidescan sonar and Chirp subbottom profiling 32 cold seep sites, already identified in Sahling et al. (2008a), have been studied in an approximately 1000 km2 large area ranging from 800 to 2600 m water depth along the middle slope of the active continental margin offshore Nicaragua. Ground truthing is available from towed camera surveys and coring on seven of the structures. The seeps occur in different settings on the slope: upslope and along the headwall of large submarine slides, as isolated eroded massifs, and forming linear ridges between deeply incised canyons. The seep sites show a wide range regarding their size and morphology, their backscatter intensity patterns, their structure in subbottom profiles, and their fluid venting activity inferred from seafloor observations. Surface extension of the seep sites ranges from less than 200 to more than 1500 m in diameter, and relief height varies between no relief and 180 m. Indications of extruded materials such as mud flows are not observed in the area of the seep sites. Instead the seeps are characterized by high proportions of authigenic carbonates. The carbonates occur as crusts, detritus, or single layers embedded in the seafloor sediments. They appear as high backscatter intensities on sidescan sonar images. On some seep sites living vent fauna indicative of active seepage is observed, but gas bubbles have not been observed. To explain the high morphological variability of the features, we propose a generic model including the interaction of several processes: (1) episodic fluid venting and associated authigenic carbonate formation; (2) background sedimentation and subsidence; (3) linear erosion along canyons and denudation on the slope surface.

At convergent margins, the structure of the subducting oceanic plate is one of the key factors controlling the morphology of the upper plate. We use high-resolution seafloor mapping and multichannel seismic reflection data along the accretionary Sumatra trench system to investigate the morphotectonic response of the upper plate to the subduction of lower plate fabric. Upper plate segmentation is reflected in varying modes of mass transfer. The deformation front in the southern Enggano segment is characterized by neotectonic formation of a broad and shallow fold-and-thrust belt consistent with the resumption of frontal sediment accretion in the wake of oceanic relief subduction. Conversely, surface erosion increasingly shapes the morphology of the lower slope and accretionary prism towards the north where significant oceanic relief is subducted. Subduction of the Investigator Fracture Zone and the fossil Wharton spreading centre in the Siberut segment exemplifies this. Such features also correlate with an irregularly trending deformation front suggesting active frontal erosion of the upper plate. Lower plate fabric extensively modulates upper plate morphology and the large-scale morphotectonic segmentation of the Sumatra trench system is linked to the subduction of reactivated fracture zones and aseismic ridges of the Wharton Basin. In general, increasing intensity of mass-wasting processes, from south to north, correlates with the extent of oversteepening of the lower slope (lower slope angle of 3.8 degrees in the south compared with 7.6 degrees in the north), probably in response to alternating phases of frontal accretion and sediment underthrusting. Accretionary mechanics thus pose a second-order factor in shaping upper plate morphology near the trench.

The `plate tectonic mirror image' to the region of the Cocos and Nazca plates, which are currently being subducted beneath Central America, is preserved in the Central Pacific around 120°W just south of the equator. Cruise SO-180 investigated this remote area during project CENTRAL and acquired new magnetic and bathymetric data. A plate tectonic model for the ‘mirror image’ is presented based on the newly acquired as well as reprocessed existing data. Discordant magnetic anomaly patterns and bathymetric structures indicate at least two major reorganization events (19.5 and 14.7 Myr), which can be detected both in the Cocos-Nazca spreading system and in the East Pacific Rise. Irregularities in the anomaly pattern and curvilinear structures on the sea floor of the survey area are interpreted in terms of a fossil overlapping spreading centre at the location where the Farallon break-up originated.

Several gas seeps and near-surface gas hydrate deposits have been identified in 850–900-m water depth on the continental slope offshore Batumi, Georgia (eastern Black Sea) using deep-towed high-resolution sidescan sonar data. The seeps are located on a ridge named Kobuleti Ridge separating two canyons: the Supsa canyon north of the ridge and the deeply incised central canyon south of it. The southern wall of this canyon shows signs for additional gas seeps. Gas seeps are shown by acoustic anomalies in the water column on raw sonar records and as high backscatter intensity areas on processed data. The seeps on Kobuleti Ridge are characterised by carbonate deposits at the centre and a much wider area where finely disseminated gas hydrates are present. Fractures of a NW–SE direction are present at the seep sites and are probably related to the formation and decomposition of gas. Individual sites of gas emission apparently exert their influence for a circular area of up to 40 m in diameter. Gas geochemistry from gravity cores shows high gas content and a mixture of biogenic and thermogenic gases together with the presence of gas hydrates. The seeps offshore Georgia are different from other known cold seeps in the Black Sea such as shallow water seeps of biogenic gas and deep water mud volcanoes. They are located in deep water within the zone of gas hydrate stability, lack significant relief and are characterised by active gas emission and the absence of mud volcanism.

The eastern Sunda margin off Indonesia (from central Java to Sumba Island) remains a little investigated subduction zone, contrary to its well-studied northwestern segment. Whereas large portions of the Sunda margin are considered a classical accretionary zone, subduction characteristics along the central Java sector indicate erosive processes as the dominant mode of mass transfer. The tectonic framework of the central Java margin, with a convergence rate of 6.7 cm/yr, insignificant sediment input and a pronounced seafloor roughness where the oceanic Roo Rise is subducting underneath Java, facilitates subduction erosion. Evidence for erosion comes from newly acquired geophysical data off central Java: local erosive processes in the wake of seamount subduction are documented by a high-resolution bathymetric survey and result in an irregular trend of the deformation front sculpted by seamount collision scars. Subduction of oceanic basement relief leads to large-scale uplift of the forearc, as recorded on a reflection seismic profile, and to a dismemberment of the previous outer forearc high, giving way to isolated topographic elevations. The broad retreat of the Java Trench and deformation front above the leading edge of the Roo Rise has exposed an area of approximately 25,000 km2 of deeper seafloor formerly covered by the previous frontal prism. Frontal erosion coincides with a steepening of the lower slope angle in the central Java sector compared to the neighbouring segments. In global compilations, the key geological parameters of the central Java margin lie in the erosive regime, reflecting the interplay of basement relief subduction, negligible sediment supply and a high convergence rate on the evolution of the margin.

Mud extrusion is frequently observed as a dewatering phenomenon in compressional tectonic settings such as subduction zones. Along the Middle American Trench, several of these features have been recently discovered. This paper presents a heat flow study of actively venting Mound Culebra, offshore Nicoya Peninsula, and is complemented by data from geophysical surveys and coring. The mud diapir is characterised by methane emission and authigenic carbonate formation at its crest, and is composed of overconsolidated scaly clays and clast-bearing muds. Compared with the conductive background heat flow, the flux through the mud dome is elevated by 10–20 mW/m2, possibly related to advection of heat by fluids rising from greater depth. Decreased chlorinity in the pore waters from gravity cores may support a deep-seated fluid origin. Geothermal measurements across the mound and temperature measurements made with outriggers on gravity corers were corrected for the effects of thermal refraction, forced by the topography of the mound. Corrected values roughly correlate with the topography, suggesting advection of heat by fluids rising through the mound, thereby generating the prominent methane anomaly over the dome and nurturing vent biota. However, elevated values occur also to the southeast of the mound. We believe that the overconsolidated clays and carbonates on the crest form an almost impermeable lid. Fluids rising from depth underneath the dome are therefore partially channelled towards the flanks of the mound.

Meteor cruise M52/1 documented the presence of gas hydrates in sediments from mud volcanoes in the Sorokin Trough of the Black Sea. In a mud flow on the Odessa mud volcano, a carbonate crust currently forms in association with anaerobic methane oxidation. Dvurechenskii mud volcano (DMV), a flat-topped “mud pie”-type structure, appeared to be very active. Pore water in sediments of DMV is enriched in several constituents, such as ammonium and chloride, which seem to originate at depth. High sediment temperatures of up to 16.5 °C in close contact to the ambient bottom water of 9 °C also suggest strong advective transport of material from greater depth. Steep temperature gradients indicate a high fluid and/or mud flux within DMV, which is confirmed by the shape of the pore water profiles. Active fluid expulsion sites are evidenced by direct seafloor observation, and a potential flux of methane from the sediment to the bottom water is indicated by water-column methane measurements.

The structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 5°S was investigated during a recent cruise with the FS Meteor. A major dextral transform fault (hereafter the 5°S FZ) offsets the ridge left-laterally by 80 km. Just south of the transform and to the west of the median valley, the inside corner (IC – the region bounded by the ridge and the active transform) is marked by a major massif, characterized by a corrugated upper surface. Fossil IC massifs can also be identified further to the west. Unusually, a massif almost as high as the IC massif also characterizes the outside corner (OC) south of the inactive fracture zone and to the east of the median valley. This OC massif has axis-parallel dimensions identical to the IC massif and both are bounded on their sides closest to the spreading axis by abrupt, steep slopes. An axial volcanic ridge is well developed in the median valley both south of the IC/OC massifs and in an abandoned rift valley to the east of the OC massif, but is absent along the new ridge-axis segment between the IC and OC massifs. Wide-angle seismic data show that between the massifs, the crust of the median valley thins markedly towards the FZ. These observations are consistent with the formation of the OC massif by the rifting of an IC core complex and the development of a new spreading centre between the IC and OC massifs. The split IC massif presents an opportunity to study the internal structure of the footwall of a detachment fault, from the corrugated fault surface to deeper beneath the fault, without recourse to drilling. Preliminary dredging recovered gabbros from the scarp slope of the rifted IC massif, and serpentinites and gabbros from the intersection of this scarp with the corrugated surface. This is compatible with a concentration of serpentinites along the detachment surface, even where the massif internally is largely plutonic in nature.

The Ninetyeast Ridge is a well-studied hot spot trail in the Indian Ocean. A recent geophysical survey in its central portion near 17° S included Hydrosweep bathymetric mapping, Parasound echosounder profiles, and high resolution seismic reflection data. These data reveal a number of small cones of a few hundreds of meters in diameter and up to 200 m height. Seismic evidence exists regarding a magmatic origin of these features. Different events of basaltic flow and tuff deposition intercalated with hemipelagic oozes of Eocene to present age, as being known from nearby drilling, allow dating of these latest stages of volcanic activity. An activity of at least 6 Ma longer than termination of the dominant constructional phase of the ridge can be demonstrated. These eruptions occur at shallow water depth, and seem to be related to tectonic lineaments in the area. Transtensional stresses together with a more durable magmatic source beneath this part of the ridge allow magma to ascend along pull-apart structures. The age discrepancy found calls for special attention when trying to reconstruct global plate motions.

In 1999 a marine geophysical survey collected bathymetric imagery, seismic reflection and refraction data to investigate the crustal structure and evolution of the Sunda Strait, which is linked to the obliquely convergent geodynamic setting of the Sumatran trench. The transtensional character of the study area is manifested in faulted blocks of arc basement and active normal faults detected on both sides of a large graben at the western entrance to the Sunda Strait. The combined interpretation of reflection and wide-angle data reveals over 6 km of sediment graben fill associated with substantial crustal thinning. The southern part of the study region is only 50 km from the trench and the Moho of the downgoing plate is found at a depth of 28 km.

Along Costa Rica, new geophysical data indicate considerable control of Quaternary convergent margin tectonics by the subducting lower plate. Three types of ocean crust enter the subduction zone: (1) Cocos Ridge with its underlying thick crust stands 2 km high, (2) on its north flank is normal crust covered 40% by seamounts, and (3) along the adjacent Nicoya margin the underthrust crust has a smooth sea floor. A 3- to 10-km-wide base of slope frontal prism varies little opposite different subducting crusts except where subducting seamounts eroded it. Once the breaching seamount has passed the prism it is quickly restored. The effect of oceanic crust on continental margin structure is most evident in the middle and upper slope. Where Cocos Ridge and its flanking seamounts subduct, erosion is pronounced relative to the stable slope where smooth lower plate subducts. Aligned upper plate features above lower plate segment boundaries extend more than 120 km landward of the trench axis and correspond in varying degrees with volcanic arc segmentation. The offset of volcanoes across the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border corresponds with a change in crustal structure and depth of the lava source. Subducted sediment shows little correlation with the slab signal in volcanic arc lavas but the magnitude of faulting associated with ocean plate flexure adjacent to the trench axis parallels it well. Thus fluids in ocean crust fractures and bound water in serpentinite may have a recognizable geochemical effect in arc lavas.

The main objective of the project reported here is to reconstruct late Holocene hydrographic changes in South Greenland fjords and to study the relationship with large-scale atmospheric climate change; in particular to shed light on a possible link between these hydrographic changes and the disappearance of the Norse from Greenland more than five centuries ago. The project (1998–2000) is financially supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Council and the Government of Greenland.

Swathbathymetry off Antofagasta reveals many tectonic features of the north ChileTrench. Since sediment on the oceanic plate is only ∼100 m thick, and since the continental slopeis essentially eroded crystalline crust, basement rock is commonly near the sea floor. Therefore,high resolution bathymetry is a good indicator of basement structure. The narrow shelf and upperslope are characterized by canyons crossed locally by extensional faults. Mejillones Ridge ispositioned anomalously seaward of the coastal Cordillera and its emergent crest forms theMejillones Peninsula. The flanks of this 100 km long uplifted feature are characterized by manynormal faults. Normal faults partition the middle slope into blocks obscured by a downslopemobile blanket of debris thick enough to mute all but the major basement structure. In the middleslope, coherent detached blocks disintegrate rapidly by mass wasting. The lower slope is slidedebris pushed into low ridges and troughs by the well developed subducting horst and grabentopography of the oceanic plate. Detritus and sediment moves downslope into graben, levels thesubducting plate, and is pushed up over small ridges. Sediment and debris piled against the base ofthe slope as the plates converge is underthrust with the subducting plate. Compressional featuresare confined to the lower quarter of the slope and are isolated from extension of the middle andupper slope. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Near the latitude of Valparaiso, Chile, a fundamental change in configuration of the Benioff Zone, volcanic arc activity, and the structure of the continental margin occurs opposite the subducting Juan Fernandez Ridge. Upper plate tectonics related to subduction of the ridge were studied by an international group of geoscientists in the two-degree segment offshore Valparaiso, extending from the shelf edge seaward across the eastern end of Juan Fernandez Ridge. Near the O'Higgins group of seamounts, the Juan Fernandez Ridge strikes northeast rather than continuing its east-west trend across the Pacific Basin. The ridge uplifts the upper plate, and sediments of the Valparaiso Basin are deformed against its southern flank. This deformation is consistent with the southward migration required by an oblique trending ridge and the nearly trench-normal vector of plate convergence. In the trench axis, the ridge forms a basement barrier behind which sediments 2.5 km deep have ponded. The lower slope over the ridge appears eroded, whereas the margin not yet affected by ridge subduction is fronted by an accretionary prism about 25 km wide. Nazca Plate relief clearly influences tectonism of the margin where it subducts beneath thin continental crust; its relation to deeper processes segmenting the Andean Orogen appears to involve prior tectonic events.

Two transverse morphological tracks across the front of the Mediterranean Ridge were swath mapped with a Hydrosweep instrument system. Along the tracks, ridges and troughs at the front of the accretionary prism are disrupted and bent in the direction of relative plate convergence. The longer of the two tracks extends to Bannock Basin, a brine-filled depression with a closed outer moat around a central mound. Seismic reflection data and a gravity anomaly show a buried circular seamout beneath Bannock Basin whose summit is the mound. This indicates an origin of the larger transverse track and Bannock Basin from a subducting seamount. Beneath Bannock Basin, the seamount has displaced about 340 km 3 of the Messinian section and yet the seafloor has not been uplifted. Therefore, considerable evaporitic material is inferred to have been displaced by the seamount and Bannock Basin is a likely vent for large quantities of dissolved materials from the disrupted Messinian evaporitic sequence.

6th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences (ISSMMTC), 23-25 September 2013, Kiel, Germany, Offshore Costa Rica large seamounts under thrust the continental convergent margin causing slides of complex morphology. The large dimension of the structures has attracted previous investigations and their basic characteristics are known. However, no detailed mapping of their complex morphology has been reported. Here we present a detailed mapping of the failure-related structures and deposits. We use deep-towed sidescan sonar data, aided by multibeam bathymetry to analyze their geometry, geomorphologic character, backscatter intensity, and spatial distribution. Those observations are used to analyze the relationship between landslide characteristics and abundance, to the changes in the style of deformation caused by the subduction of seamounts to progressively greater depth under the margin

We use complete inventories of submarine landslides from the Middle America (MA) and the Central Chile (CC) trench and forearc systems to analyze the size-frequency relationship of such structures on active continental slopes. The MA forearc is characterized by subduction erosion, and the CC forearc has had an accretionary tectonic history since the Late Neogene. Both are end-member types of convergent margins around the world. Both margin segments have been mapped by high-resolution swath bathymetry at strike lengths of about 1,300 km (MA) and 1,000 km (CC). The Middle America forearc has 143 discernible slides with sizes ranging from 0.38 to 1,426 km2. Offshore Central Chile, the 62 mapped slides are 0.9–1,285 km2 in size. Slide localization is markedly different at both margin types. While they also vary strongly along strike of the individual margin, depending on forearc slope gradient, kinematic coupling between plates, or topographic structure of the downgoing plate, the size-frequency relationships are remarkably similar. This allows quantification of the incidence of a submarine slide of given size per margin segment. The relationships hold for slide sizes from 10 to 1,000 km2, with the cut-off defined by slide size (smaller slides) and sample size (larger slides). As slide traces of 100–300 km2 size are obliterated by tectonic deformation after about 200,000 years, recurrence rates for slides of a given size can be estimated. This offers a chance to assess hazard and risk resulting from such events. It is suggested that it takes 20 to 200 plate boundary earthquakes to set off a medium-sized (>10 km2) or larger slump or slide.

This study highlights the potential of using a low frequency multibeam echosounder for detection and visualization of shallow gas occurring several meters beneath the seafloor. The presence of shallow gas was verified in the Bornholm Basin, Baltic Sea, at 80 m water depth with standard geochemical core analysis and hydroacoustic subbottom profiling. Successively, this area was surveyed with a 95 kHz and a 12 kHz multibeam echosounder (MBES). The bathymetric measurements with 12 kHz provided depth values systematically deeper by several meters compared to 95 kHz data. This observation was attributed to enhanced penetration of the low frequency signal energy into soft sediments. Consequently, the subbottom geoacoustic properties contributed highly to the measured backscattered signals. Those appeared up to 17 dB higher inside the shallow gas area compared to reference measurements outside and could be clearly linked to the shallow gas front depth down to 5 meter below seafloor. No elevated backscatter was visible in 95 kHz MBES data, which in turn highlights the superior potential of low frequency MBES to image shallow sub-seafloor features. Small gas pockets could be resolved even on the outer swath (up to 65°). Strongly elevated backscattering from gassy areas occurred at large incidence angles and a high gas sensitivity of the MBES is further supported by an angular response analysis presented in this study. We conclude that the MBES together with subbottom profiling can be used as an efficient tool for spatial subbottom mapping in soft sediment environments.

Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, 5th International Symposium.-- 12 pages, 5 figures, We study mass wasting along the Middle America Trench (MAT), a subduction zone dominated by tectonic erosion, using a comprehensive data set of seafloor relief. We integrate previous studies of long-term tectonic processes to analyze how they influence the evolution of the slope structure and precondition the continental slope for mass wasting. We have used the distribution of an inventory of 147 slope failure structures along the MAT to discuss their relation to subduction erosion. We interpret that preconditioning of the slope by long-term tectonics, interacts in a shorter-term scale with features on the under-thrusting oceanic plate to modulate the abundance and types of mass wasting phenomena. The complex origin of the incoming oceanic plate has produced abrupt lateral changes in plate age, crustal thickness, relief, and response to bending deformation at the trench, leading to its partitioning into six segments. We found that the continental-slope failure style and abundance are partitioned into six segments that spatially match the ocean plate segments, This publication is contribution no. 210 of the Sonderforschungsbereich 574 “Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones” at Kiel University funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The data were collected during cruises of German R/V Sonne funded by the Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF) and R/V Meteor the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), and US R/V Ewing funded by NSF

Three destructive earthquakes along the Alaska subduction zone sourced transoceanic tsunamis during the past 70 years. Since it is reasoned that past rupture areas might again source tsunamis in the future, we studied potential asperities and barriers in the subduction zone by examining Quaternary Gulf of Alaska plate history, geophysical data, and morphology. We relate the aftershock areas to subducting lower plate relief and dissimilar materials in the seismogenic zone in the 1964 Kodiak and adjacent 1938 Semidi Islands earthquake segments. In the 1946 Unimak earthquake segment, the exposed lower plate seafloor lacks major relief that might organize great earthquake rupture. However, the upper plate contains a deep transverse-trending basin and basement ridges associated with the Eocene continental Alaska convergent margin transition to the Aleutian island arc. These upper plate features are sufficiently large to have affected rupture propagation. In addition, massive slope failure in the Unimak area may explain the local 42-m-high 1946 tsunami runup. Although Quaternary geologic and tectonic processes included accretion to form a frontal prism, the study of seismic images, samples, and continental slope physiography shows a previous history of tectonic erosion. Implied asperities and barriers in the seismogenic zone could organize future great earthquake rupture.

We present the first comprehensive study of mass wasting processes in the continental slope of a convergent margin of a subduction zone where tectonic processes are dominated by subduction erosion. We have used multibeam bathymetry along ∼1300 km of the Middle America Trench of the Central America Subduction Zone and deep-towed side-scan sonar data. We found abundant evidence of large-scale slope failures that were mostly previously unmapped. The features are classified into a variety of slope failure types, creating an inventory of 147 slope failure structures. Their type distribution and abundance define a segmentation of the continental slope in six sectors. The segmentation in slope stability processes does not appear to be related to slope preconditioning due to changes in physical properties of sediment, presence/absence of gas hydrates, or apparent changes in the hydrogeological system. The segmentation appears to be better explained by changes in slope preconditioning due to variations in tectonic processes. The region is an optimal setting to study how tectonic processes related to variations in intensity of subduction erosion and changes in relief of the underthrusting plate affect mass wasting processes of the continental slope. The largest slope failures occur offshore Costa Rica. There, subducting ridges and seamounts produce failures with up to hundreds of meters high headwalls, with detachment planes that penetrate deep into the continental margin, in some cases reaching the plate boundary. Offshore northern Costa Rica a smooth oceanic seafloor underthrusts the least disturbed continental slope. Offshore Nicaragua, the ocean plate is ornamented with smaller seamounts and horst and graben topography of variable intensity. Here mass wasting structures are numerous and comparatively smaller, but when combined, they affect a large part of the margin segment. Farther north, offshore El Salvador and Guatemala the downgoing plate has no large seamounts but well-defined horst and graben topography. Off El Salvador slope failure is least developed and mainly occurs in the uppermost continental slope at canyon walls. Off Guatemala mass wasting is abundant and possibly related to normal faulting across the slope. Collapse in the wake of subducting ocean plate topography is a likely failure trigger of slumps. Rapid oversteepening above subducting relief may trigger translational slides in the middle Nicaraguan upper Costa Rican slope. Earthquake shaking may be a trigger, but we interpret that slope failure rate is lower than recurrence time of large earthquakes in the region. Generally, our analysis indicates that the importance of mass wasting processes in the evolution of margins dominated by subduction erosion and its role in sediment dynamics may have been previously underestimated.

The South Chilean marine fore arc (35°S–40°S) is separated into four tectonic segments, Concepcion North, Concepcion South, Nahuelbuta, and Tolten (from north to south). These are each characterized by their individual tectonic geomorphology and reflect different ways of mechanical and kinematic interaction of the convergent Nazca and South American plates. Splay faults that cut through continental framework rock are seismically imaged in both Concepcion segments and the Tolten Segment. Additionally, the Concepcion South Segment exhibits prominent upper plate normal faults. Normal faults apparently relate to uplift caused by sediment underthrusting at depth. This has led to oversteepening and gravitational collapse of the marine fore arc. There is also evidence for sediment underthrusting and basal accretion to the overriding plate in the Tolten Segment. There, uplift of the continental slope has created a landward inclined seafloor over a latitudinal distance of 50 km. In the Nahuelbuta Segment transpressive upper plate faults, aligned oblique to the direction of plate motion, control the seafloor morphology. Based on a unique acoustic data set including >90% of bathymetric coverage of the continental slope we are able to reveal an along‐strike heterogeneity of a complexly deformed marine fore arc which had escaped attention in previous studies that only considered the structure along transects normal to the plate margin.

Six active methane seeps and one cold-water reef that may represent a relict seep were mapped at Omakere Ridge on New Zealand's Hikurangi Margin during cruises SO191 and TAN0616. Hydroacoustic flares, interpreted to be bubbles of methane rising through the water column were identified in the area. The seep sites and the cold-water reef were characterised by regions of high backscatter intensity on sidescan sonar records, or moderate backscatter intensity where the seep was located directly below the path of the sidescan towfish. The majority of sites appear as elevated features (2–4 m) in multibeam swath data. Gas blanking and acoustic turbidity were observed in sub-bottom profiles through the sites. A seismic section across two of the sites (Bear's Paw and LM-9) shows a BSR suggesting the presence of gas hydrate as well as spots of high amplitudes underneath and above the BSR indicating free gas. All sites were ground truthed with underwater video observations, which showed the acoustic features to represent authigenic carbonate rock structures. Live chemosynthetic biotic assemblages, including siboglinid tube worms, vesicomyid clams, bathymodiolin mussels, and bacterial mats, were observed at the seeps. Cold-water corals were the most conspicuous biota of the cold-water reef but widespread vesicomyid clam shells indicated past seep activity at all sites. The correlation between strong backscatter features in sidescan sonar images and seep-related seabed features is a powerful tool for seep exploration, but differentiating the acoustic features as either modern or relict seeps requires judicial analysis and is most effective when supported by visual observations.

SUMMARY In global catalogues only a handful of earthquakes occurred at or near the Cape Verde islands. The two most recent events occurring in 1998 and 2004 were observed in the southwest of the Cape Verde archipelago away from aerial volcanic centres. Event relocation suggests that both earthquakes may occur at the Cadamosto seamount, a 3-km-tall submarine volcanic edifice to the southwest of the active volcanic islands of Fogo. Swath mapping efforts revealed numerous small volcanic cones between the volcanic island of Brava and the seamount and between Fogo and Brava. The distribution of volcanic vents may support two plumbing systems, one feeding Fogo and volcanic cones between Fogo and Brava and another system feeding Cadamosto seamount. Using ocean-bottom seismic stations of opportunity, deployed roughly a month after a mb= 4.3 earthquake occurred in 2004 August near or at the Cadamosto seamount, we were able to locate local seismic activity clustering at the seamount. We propose that these events reflect brittle rock failure due to magma redistribution in or near a central magma reservoir or more likely dyke intrusion. The observations reported here suggest that Cadamosto seamount is the seismically most active feature in the archipelago. It might be reasonable to hypothesis that ongoing activity causes the Cadamosto seamount to grow, forming a new oceanic island in the future.

Cold seeps on Opouawe Bank, situated in around 1000 m water depth on the Hikurangi Margin offshore North Island. New Zealand, were investigated using multibeam bathymetry, 75 and 410 kHz sidescan sonar imagery, and 2–8 kHz Chirp sediment echosounder data. Towed video camera observations allowed ground-truthing the various geoacoustic data. At least eleven different seep locations displaying a range of seep activity were identified in the study area. The study area consists of an elongated, northward-widening ridge that is part of the accretionary Hikurangi Margin and is well separated from direct terrigenous input by margin channels surrounding the ridge. The geoacoustic signature of individual cold-seep sites ranged from smooth areas with slightly elevated backscatter intensity resulting from high gas content or the presence of near-surface gas hydrates, to rough areas with widespread patches of carbonates at the seafloor. Five cold seeps also show indications for active gas emissions in the form of acoustic plumes in the water column. Repeated sidescan sonar imagery of the plumes indicates they are highly variable in intensity and direction in the water column, probably reflecting the control of gas emission by tides and currents. Although gas emission appears strongly focused in the Wairarapa area, the actual extents of the cold seep structures are much wider in the subsurface as is shown by sediment echosounder profiles, where large gas fronts were observed.

10 pages, 7 figures, Our analysis of geoacoustic data from the Middle American margin provides an insight into the formation and evolution mechanisms of mound structures observed on the continental slope offshore Costa Rica. Based on high-resolution deep-towed sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiler (SBP) data six different mound and fluid seepage structures at the Hongo mound field are characterized in detail. The Hongo mound field is located on the lower continental slope offshore Nicoya peninsula in the prolongation of the subducting Nicoya fracture zone. The mounds have oval to circular shapes with diameters of 500-1600 m and relief heights of 60-100 m. High backscatter anomalies near the mound summits indicate carbonate precipitation and focused fluid seepage activity within the last 10 ka. The data do not show evidence for mud extrusions and the structures were probably formed by a combination of carbonate precipitation and mud diapirism. Based on seismic stratigraphy analysis, mud diapirism is at least active since 42.5-57 ka and average vertical growth rates vary between 6-24 cm/ka. However, if diapirism represents the dominant mound evolution mechanism, mound heights of 80 m point to much older mound ages of 330-1330 ka. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved, Funding for the cruise and subsequent work has been provided by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). This publication is contribution 179 of the Sonderforschungsbereich 574 “Volatiles and fluids in subduction zones” at Kiel University

Large-scale landslides occur on the flanks of many volcanic oceanic islands worldwide. None have taken place in historical time, but their geohazard potential, especially their ability to generate tsunamis, is large. The Cape Verde Islands are a group of 10 large and several smaller volcanic islands off the coast of West Africa between 15 and 17°N. A single flank landslide has previously been described from the island of Fogo, but systematic analysis of the Cape Verde group has until now been lacking. This paper describes and interprets a multibeam bathymetry data set covering the slopes of the western Cape Verde Islands, including those of the islands with the most recent volcanic activity, Fogo in the southwest, and Santo Antao in the northwest. All of the larger islands show evidence of large flank landslides, although only Fogo and the southwest part of Santo Antao have failed in the last 400 ka. Tope de Coroa, the volcano at the southwest end of Santo Antao, has been inactive for the past 170 ka and is judged to have a low landslide potential unless volcanic activity resumes. In contrast, there would seem to be a high probability of a future east directed landslide on Fogo, from the area of the highly active Pico do Fogo volcano, although it is impossible to predict a timescale for such an event. A tsunami generated by such a landslide could have a catastrophic effect on the adjacent island of Santiago and possibly even farther afield on the West African coast.

A systematic search for methane-rich fluid seeps at the seafloor was conducted at the Pacific continental margin offshore southern Nicaragua and northern central Costa Rica, a convergent margin characterized by subduction erosion. More than 100 fluid seeps were discovered using a combination of multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar imagery, TV-sled observations, and sampling. This corresponds, on average, to a seep site every 4 km along the continental slope. In the northwestern part of the study area, subduction of oceanic crust formed at the East Pacific Rise is characterized by pervasive bending-induced faulting of the oceanic plate and a relatively uniform morphology of the overriding continental margin. Seepage at this part of the margin typically occurs at approximately cone-shaped mounds 50 - 100 m high and up to 1 km wide at the base. Over 60 such mounds were identified on the 240 km long margin segment. Some normal faults also host localized seepage. In contrast, in the southeast, the 220 km long margin segment overriding the oceanic crust formed at the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre has a comparatively more irregular morphology caused mainly by the subduction of ridges and seamounts sitting on the oceanic plate. Over 40 seeps were located on this part of the margin. This margin segment with irregular morphology exhibits diverse seep structures. Seeps are related to landslide scars, seamount-subduction related fractures, mounds, and faults. Several backscatter anomalies in side-scan images are without apparent relief and are probably related to carbonate precipitation. Detected fluid seeps are not evenly distributed across the margin but occur in a roughly margin parallel band centered 28 ± 7 km landward of the trench. This distribution suggests that seeps are possibly fed to fluids rising from the plate boundary along deep-penetrating faults through the upper plate.

Quantification of fluid fluxes from cold seeps depends on accurate estimates of the spatial validity of flux measurements. These estimates are strongly influenced by the choice of geoacoustic mapping tools. Multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar, and Chirp subbottom profiler data of several mound-shaped cold seeps offshore central Costa Rica show great variety in morphology and structure although the features are only a few kilometers apart. Mound 11 (a 35 m high and 1000 m in diameter structure), situated in the SE of the study area, has an irregular morphology but a smooth surface on side-scan sonar data, while mound 12 (30 m high, 600 m across) is a cone of more regular outline but with a rough surface, and mound Grillo (5 m high, 500 m across) shows the same rough surface as mound 12 but without relief. Video observations and sediment cores indicate that the structures are formed by the precipitation of authigenic carbonates and indications for extensive mud extrusion are absent, except for one possible mudflow at mound 11. Different sonar frequencies result in variable estimates of the extent of these mounds with low frequencies suggesting much wider cold seeps, consequently overestimating fluid fluxes. The absence of mud volcanism compared to accretionary prisms where mud volcanism occurs is related to different tectonic styles: strong sediment overpressure and thrust faulting in typical accretionary prisms can generate mud volcanism, while subduction erosion and normal faulting (extension) of the overriding plate at the Costa Rican margin result in fluid venting driven by only slight fluid overpressures.

[1] Fluid distribution in convergent margins is by most accounts closely related to tectonics. This association has been widely studied at accretionary prisms, but at half of the Earth's convergent margins, tectonic erosion grinds down overriding plates, and here fluid distribution and its relation to tectonics remain speculative. Here we present a new conceptual model for the hydrological system of erosional convergent margins. The model is based largely on new data and recently published observations from along the Middle America Trench offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and it is consistent with observations from other erosional margins. The observations indicate that erosional margins possess previously unrecognized distinct hydrogeological systems: Most fluid contained in the sediment pores and liberated by early dehydration reactions drains from the plate boundary through a fractured upper plate to seep at the seafloor across the slope, rather than migrating along the decollement toward the deformation front as described for accretionary prisms. The observations indicate that the relative fluid abundance across the plate-boundary fault zone and fluid migration influence long-term tectonics and the transition from aseismic to seismogenic behavior. The segment of the plate boundary where fluid appears to be more abundant corresponds to the locus of long-term tectonic erosion, where tectonic thinning of the overriding plate causes subsidence and the formation of the continental slope. This correspondence between observations indicates that tectonic erosion is possibly linked to the migration of overpressured fluids into the overriding plate. The presence of overpressured fluids at the plate boundary is compatible with the highest flow rates estimated at slope seeps. The change from aseismic to seismogenic behavior along the plate boundary of the erosional margin begins where the amount of fluid at the fault declines with depth, indicating a control on interplate earthquakes. A previously described similar observation along accreting plate boundaries strongly indicates that fluid abundance exerts a first-order control on interplate seismogenesis at all types of subduction zones. We hypothesize that fluid depletion with depth increases grain-to-grain contact, increasing effective stress on the fault, and modifies fault zone architecture from a thick fault zone to a narrower zone of localized slip.

27 pages, 13 figures

The highly active subduction zone of southern Chile was the source region of the 1960 Valdivia megathrust earthquake (Mw= 9.5), the largest earthquake ever recorded.This region is currently under investigation by the multidisciplinary TIPTEQ (From the Incoming Plate to Mega-Thrust Earthquake Processes) project, which is studying the structure, state, and deformation of the subduction zone lithosphere. Over 90 days, from December 2004 to February 2005,TIPTEQ scientists on cruise S0181 of the German research vessel (R/V Sonne acquired a broad variety of geophysical and geological data in the research area offshore Chile between 35°S and 48°S (Figure 1).These data include active and passive source seismics, heat flow probing, magnetics, magnetotellurics for studying Earth conductivity, highresolution multibeam bathymetry, and sediment probes from gravity cores.

The Chile subduction zone, spanning more than 3500 km, provides a unique setting for studying, along a single plate boundary, the factors that govern tectonic processes at convergent margins. At large scale, the Chile trench is segmented by the subduction of the Chile Rise, an active spreading center, and by the Juan Fernandez hot spot ridge. In addition, the extreme climatic change from the Atacama Desert in the north to the glacially influenced southern latitudes produces a dramatic variability in the volume of sediment supplied to the trench. The distribution of sediment along the trench is further influenced by the high relief gradients of the segmented oceanic lithosphere.